Titans vs Raiders quick notes
By Will Lomas
The Tennessee Titans had a matchup today with the Oakland Raiders in the third week of the preseason. Here are the quick notes and news on what I saw from the game.
Notes
-Marcus Mariota started off a little shaky, but ended up looking great after barely fitting in a nice pass to Tajae Sharpe that ended up going for 61-yards.
-That catch set up a short touchdown run from DeMarco Murray who just overpowered a poorly aligned Oakland Raiders unit.
-The Titans continue to struggle with running backs out of the backfield. They have given up chunk yardage there all season and that can’t keep happening.
-Antwan Blake has continued to just kill his chances to make this roster. He was left in the dust by Michael Crabtree on a go route. There are better CBs on this roster and in free agency, if he stays it is because Mike Mularkey loves him.
-Antonio Andrews is really not doing any better than Blake. He had two disastrous returns to start the game.
-Dexter McCluster has some plays that are clearly designed for him that are hurting momentum. I hope that doesn’t continue into the season.
-Marcus Mariota looks great, dropping dimes in tight coverage not matter which receiver is on the other end. He also tucked it and ran on a play where the Raiders tried to get pressure with four, instead he tucked it and ran for about 15 yards then pitched it to Harry Douglas for another chunk. He is a key part of the Titans running offense, but no one is talking about that yet.
-Surprisingly little running in the first quarter. The Titans are largely taking what they are given and it is working.
-The run game and the offensive line looked amazing for lack of a better word. They seemed to be able to deal with the Raiders pass rush and run defense at will. Whether it was Jack Conklin and Chance Warmack opening huge holes for DeMarco Murray, Ben Jones punishing anyone he touched (or anyone who touched Marcus Mariota), or Quinton Spain and Taylor Lewan doing dirty work in the redzone they all looked great.
-If you are looking for a downspot on offense, the tight ends really didn’t do a lot as either receivers or blocking. Where Jalston Fowler looked ready to deck people, the tight ends lost leverage on occasion and allowed big runs to get cut off too early.
-Sean Spence made the hit of the day when he absolutely laid out DeAndre Washington and forced a fumble that David Bass returned for a TD.
-Austin Johnson flashed a couple of times, once for a hold and once that forced the quick pass to Washington that resulted in the Titans defensive TD.
-Kalan Reed put his name in the hat to be kept as the teams final cornerback. While every other CB seems to be trailing off, Reed had an interception today on a nice undercut route.